Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Now Covered by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on EBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.30.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC opened at $18.97 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.88. Eastern Bankshares has a 12 month low of $13.51 and a 12 month high of $22.58. The stock has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.27 and a beta of 0.81.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $290.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 8.32% and a return on equity of 8.25%. As a group, analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 126.83%.

Insider Transactions at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 21,256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.11, for a total value of $427,458.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 20,860 shares in the company, valued at $419,494.60. This represents a 50.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO R David Rosato bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.17 per share, with a total value of $95,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $862,650. The trade was a 12.50% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EBC. HoldCo Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $79,534,000. Eastern Bank grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 6.2% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,547,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,094,000 after acquiring an additional 89,890 shares during the period. Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth $1,293,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth $34,680,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter valued at $1,332,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

About Eastern Bankshares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the United States. Founded in 1818 as Salem Savings Bank and later rebranded as Eastern Bank in 1989, the company preserved its mutual ownership structure for more than two centuries. In March 2020, it completed an initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker EBC, while continuing to emphasize its community-focused heritage.

Through its primary subsidiary, Eastern Bank, the company delivers a broad range of commercial and consumer banking products.